Plans are underway in Zaporizhzhia to build underground schools and kindergartens at a cost of over 1 billion hryvnia
In the Zaporizhzhia region, plans are in place to build four underground kindergartens and four underground schools in 2026, at a total cost of over one billion hryvnias.
All of the lucrative contracts for the construction of these protected educational facilities were awarded to three interconnected commercial companies.
Investigative journalists found that the procurement process was riddled with numerous violations, lacked real competition in the bidding, and likely involved significant overpayments for construction materials.
Among the winning bidders was a firm previously referred to in the media as “Ivan Fedorov’s builders.”
This company is currently officially involved in a criminal investigation by law enforcement regarding alleged large-scale embezzlement of state funds during the construction of military fortifications.
Two other newcomer companies, which have direct ties to the inner circle of former Zaporizhzhia City Council member Belyi, were able to secure state tenders thanks to close cooperation with firms on the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine’s “blacklist.”
Suspilne’s investigative team found that the procurements were conducted with violations, without real competition, and with possible overpayments for construction materials.
Contractors who were barred from participating in tenders were replaced by others. But there is a connection between them all.
The pattern of contract signing indicates that the new legal entities effectively replaced the disqualified companies to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the AMCU.
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The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allocated 29.4 million UAH to support the activities of the state-owned enterprise "Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio."
